“Rogue state” is a term applied by some to states considered threatening to world peace. Usually, it is understood that a rogue state meets quite specific criteria, such as being ruled by an authoritarian regime that severely restricts human rights, sponsors terrorism, and seeks or controls weapons of mass destruction. This panel discussion examines the very concept of popular sovereignty and the figure of the rogue—the lawless combatant who can no longer be represented (judicially or politically) but only presented, marking mechanisms of exclusion and closure. The suspension of law and the state of emergency—branded as “the war on terror”—and the figure of the rogue as a new form of the image of the enemy are assessed in a discussion about the fundamental (in)divisibility of sovereignty.
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School provides a forum for discussion of the role of the arts in society and their relationship to the sociopolitical climate in which they are created. This event is presented as part of the Vera List Center’s 2008-09 program cycle on “Branding Democracy.”
Moderator
Faisal Devji, historian and Eugene Lang College faculty member
Panelists
Ayreen Anastas, artist and one of the organizers of the open platform 16 Beaver
Michael Naas, philosopher, translator and Derrida scholar
Jason Smith, philosopher, writer and MFA faculty member, Art Center College of Design
This program has been made possible, in part, by a generous grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.